The author of the book, "The Right Stuff", Thomas Wolf would disagree with you. If Yu-Na is unable to win in Sochi it might well be because of this latest injury of hers, DUE TO THE APPROACH AND RESULT OF HER TRAINING. But at the end of the day the hard truth will be she didn't have the "right stuff" (ALL that is needed to win); it's ALL included no matter how unfair it might seem. So, you can't say Yang Bo was the "best balance beam worker of her era", IF SHE DIDN'T WIN. You can SAY she had the most promise or the best form, but that is all.

But that's silly; Yuna has already shown she has everything needed to win from her Olympic title and her 2 World Championships. Even if the injury prevented her from doing her best at Sochi, there will always be people saying "Kostner/Asada/Whoever Else" may have won, but Yuna wasn't at her best there." Saying that being prevented from winning by an injury or by flopping when it counted most means you "didn't have the right stuff" is like saying "Kristi Yamaguchi was a better jumper than Midori Ito because she landed her jumps when it counted."

But that's silly; Yuna has already shown she has everything needed to win from her Olympic title and her 2 World Championships. Even if the injury prevented her from doing her best at Sochi, there will always be people saying "Kostner/Asada/Whoever Else" may have won, but Yuna wasn't at her best there." Saying that being prevented from winning by an injury or by flopping when it counted most means you "didn't have the right stuff" is like saying "Kristi Yamaguchi was a better jumper than Midori Ito because she landed her jumps when it counted."

I am a huge Yu-Na fan but when she lost the Worlds to Miki Ando it is because she didn't have what it takes (that day at least) and the gold around Miki's neck was the proof of it all. Many people like to maintain that Sasha is a better figure skater than Yu-Na. Wrong. When you are talking COMPETITION skating the ONLY thing that matters is where one ends up on the podium; the reward and affirmation of good work, good program, support, talent, nerves, health and often timing/luck. I wouldn't pay to see Miki but I would Yu-Na. But that is apples and oranges. Regardless of raw ability and an impressive list of accomplishments if she doesn't win gold at the Olympics people can make the argument, and with good cause, that she wasn't the figure skater Katerina Witt was and that would be sad and maybe even tragic but that is what the "kiss and cry" is for. In golfing circles there is this guy who was famous in golfing circles for his amazing striking ability, meaning he could hit the golf ball within a few feet of where he aimed. I don't remember his name. You know why? Because everything else about his game was sub par and so he rarely won. Great striker? Yes. Great golfer, no. So to say, Ito was a better jumper than Kristi is irrelevant because, yes, when it counted Kristi made the jumps and that meant she was the better FIGURE SKATER (at least on that day) and that is what we are talking about here, right?

When you are talking COMPETITION skating the ONLY thing that matters is where one ends up on the podium.

May be. But when you are talking Greatest of All Time you are talking body of work. Fifty years from now we can revisit the question and see whose programs are still watched over and over. The great skater may have lost the battle, but won the war.

It's your legacy, your impact on the sport, not whether you won this medal or that.

I don't want to offend anyone, but, do you think that something like the "Greatest, Best ... of all time" is actually an achievable rank? We never saw Witt compete against Yuna, we never saw both of them compete versus Henie and so on.

From my point of view, you just cant say who the best is or was, as not all were fighting with the same tools, not all in the same time and especially not against each other.

What you can say is who the most successful one was and if I am not mistaken it would be Sonja Henie.

That doesn't change the fact though, that everyone of us has his personal "best of all time", but this is more based on the impact that particular Skater had on us, than the actual "performance ranking" among all skaters.

May be. But when you are talking Greatest of All Time you are talking body of work. Fifty years from now we can revisit the question and see whose programs are still watched over and over. The great skater may have lost the battle, but won the war.

It's your legacy, your impact on the sport, not whether you won this medal or that.

Impact on whom? In what way? The thing is, the most consistent champions (like Michelle Kwan) have the biggest impact and legacy. It's really tough to have a counter example (apart from Janet Lynn). The skaters with the biggest impact tend to be those who have a certain level of both longevity and dominance: Kwan in the US, Slutskaya in Russia, Asada in Japan, and Kim in Korea (and Asia in general). All of them have won several major titles. In fact, Lynn's exception just may prove the rule.

May be. But when you are talking Greatest of All Time you are talking body of work. Fifty years from now we can revisit the question and see whose programs are still watched over and over. The great skater may have lost the battle, but won the war.

I will concede that. And maybe she doesn't have to win it all and to tell you the truth this argument of mine has been more of an academic exercise by me and doesn't really reflect how I think it will all turn out for Yu-Na. Her Lark Ascending at the 2007 Worlds was one of my favorites of hers even if it cost her the championship. No matter what her setbacks, I would expect at least that kind of performance from her and if she skates like that in Sochi she will have secured her place in the annals of figure skating greats.

LOL at this thread.....I can go on for days about why I freaking love Stephane Lambiel and why he's the one and only skating god but I don't. I don't force feed my uberdom to others, but why do others always do it to me?

LOL at this thread.....I can go on for days about why I freaking love Stephane Lambiel and why he's the one and only skating god but I don't. I don't force feed my uberdom to others, but why do others always do it to me?

lol.. Check again the thread title! What did you expect? If someone start one about Lambiel, I can see people like me going on and on gushing over him too.

Impact on whom? In what way? The thing is, the most consistent champions (like Michelle Kwan) have the biggest impact and legacy.

That is my point. Michelle Kwan never won an Olympic gold medal, but she had a greater impact on the sport than many who did. Kurt Browning never won an Olympic medal of any kind, yet he would be a defensible choice for all-time great consideration.

It's really tough to have a counter example (apart from Janet Lynn)....In fact, Lynn's exception just may prove the rule.

Janet Lynn is indeed unique. Without ever winning anything except some national titles, she brought down the whole sport of figure skating, replacing it with a new thing altogether.

Originally Posted by Alex D

That doesn't change the fact though, that everyone of us has his personal "best of all time", but this is more based on the impact that particular Skater had on us, than the actual "performance ranking" among all skaters.

Quite so. I wouldn't want it any other way.

But here's an objective and quantifiable test. The skater with the greatest number of hits on You Tube is the most popular of all time. That would be 9-year-old Starr Andrews with Whip My Hair (14,000,000 views). Runner-up, the ice dancer who fell out of her costume in the middle of a performance.